I Spy

It seemed to me to be about a girl he knew from when he was younger. Living in the lower classes, but she "made it out" and he's "still stuck here". He is now spying on the person, and the others now in the upper class "lords and ladies" he's going to take them on. These ideas of "different class" are shown in the homonyms parks, grass, birds. In his world these things mean different things. The describing her as having Ladbroke Grove looks is puzzling. Perhaps he is talking about her in the past before she found her elevated status, he was turned on by her grimey look before. Instead of "sing" I think it's saying "sink", - "let's sink again" go back to our lower class status, to "take her from this sickness, dinner parties and champagne" -both relics of upperclass wealth. The "sleeping with your wife" bit, he is talking to the girls husband I think. Great song.

How could anybody pass by the fact that Jarvis mentions himself in the verse "The crowd gasp at Cocker's masterful control of the bicycle", etc.?

I'm not sure about the "class war" interpretation. From my point of view, this song deals with the profession of being a song-writter. And most of the times, Jarvis seems to be closer to the figure of a plain, proper writter, a true author: songs such as this are almost like a novel!

Spying is what artist do. They're observers, spectators. And all the songs in "Different Class" are a celebration, an invitation to peep into other people's private lives, into their intimacy. Jarvis is a voyeur. Check out "Live Bed Show", "Underwear", etcetera. Can't be any clearer!

An artist duty is to shake us from our lethargy, taking us "from this sickness" and making our bodies "sing again".

On the other hand, though, they are underestimated quite often. "To the untrained eye", artists seem to be sitting on their "arse all day", when what they actually do is trying to reveal other aspects, deeper aspects and meanings out of ordinary reality. Jarvis lyrics always aim to that effect. He gets -metaphorically- between our sheets ("I've been sleeping with your wife... messing up the bed that you chose together") just in order to describe the way we live, and thus waking us up, making us open up our eyes. We are, after all, the "clever swines" who "never let mask slip", who "never admit to it", who're "never hurried", lost inside our own "petty lives". He spies in order to change our world.

That's it, yeah.

This song is about a man of a lower class taking revenge on a man of higher class by corrputing his wife.

I agree with raiseyourvoice... the sexiest line ever! It's both perverse and teasing... that final part is fantastic, everything going on full tilt as Jarvis conjures images of desperation and heavy decadence...

I will come to you I will come to you I will take you from this sickness Dinner parties and champagne I'll hold your body and make it sing again Come on - sing again Let's sing again, oh yeah Cos I spy

The imagery is really strong... I can see him leaving a high-class party with a decadent rich woman, to assault her sexually on some low-rent motel.

Another part I love is everytime he starts with "And every night..."... it sounds even vampiresque!

The whole song is worth noticing though... Quite a well thought minor-chords crescendo... The whole sound is what makes Pulp a great band....

And I agree with the class war theory, at least there are overtones of it everywhere in the song... And that spoken word part is brilliant, he does sound like a wacko!

Class war! nouveaux riche, middle class idiots, who've forgotten what it is to be passionate any more.

It's about jealousy/revenge upon the british middle classes. A woman from a similar background as himself and of he now knows of 'intimately', is married into middleclass respectability. A man with a chip on his shoulder, who watches/spies upon this couple, imagining that he is more intelligent/clever than his target. Possibly pyschotic, he loves the thought of making love to a middle ageing (30's) woman with the 'Ladbroke Grove Look'. He wants to shatter their world, their happiness coz he's bad, jealous and just to prove he can...

Great song. I particularly like the "composing my own critical notices in my head" part. For non-Englishmen like me: "blue plaque" seems to be a special kind of sign put on places where important events took place (see wikipedia).

La LAa La la laaa la laaa la la la ! In The MidNight Hour!"

cause I spy. It is about class war - He's fantasising about seducing a middle class woman, taking from a middle class man that he is jealous of. He wants to bring everyone down to his level. The results and possibly the views of every lowerclass person who see's "i spy" middle class people goign about thier day and wanting revenge and wanting thier lives! Though he's too stupid to carry out his plans "every night i hatch my plans.. how i will get my satisfaction" he never actually does it. "it may look to the untrained eye, i'm sitting on my arse all day" He's a giant - he knows more than everyone around him. though he doesnt "minds are just the same as mine except you're clever swines" - he's a star 'crowed gasp'. Possibly the crazed thoughts of a lower class stalker. <-- that jarvis is.

jarvis gets his revenge on a guy by sleeping with his wife. he knows its wrong but finds the fact that he has been doing this girl in his bed and drinking his brandy while her husband was away for a year quite funny and is kind of proud and feels realy big for doing it.jarvis tries to hide his guilt by saying birds are something you shag youve been away for a year what do you expect.

two words. Bloody amazing! Definatly their best. Very Suede-ish.